Tubeless tire



R. L. WANN TUBELESS TIRE Feb. 24, 1959 2 Sheecs-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 4. 1954 TUBELESS TIRE Richard L. Wann, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, assigt1or to The Fir'estone Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Applicatlon January 4, 1954, Serial N0. 401,776 I 2 Claimm (C1. 152-353) This invention relates to agricultural tx actor tires of the tubeless open-beaded pneumatic type and has as ofie of its p rincipal objects the prevention of the entrance and lodging of foreign material between the beads of a tire and the tire rim flange.

Another object of the present invention is toprovide recesses in the tire rim flange contact surface of agricultural tractor tire beads, which recesses are adapted to receive and retain a limited amount of silt er soil.

The T ire and Rim Association, Inc., an organization that publicizes standards adopted by the tire industry in the United States of America, recommends W inflation for agrimltural tractor tires. For example, said -associations present standard for 4 ply 6.0016 tires for freut wheels is 28 pounds inflation and for 4 ply 11.00 tires for rear wheels 12 pounds. Agricultural tractors are frequently used for plowing and when so used, the tiresare subjected to extreme side thrust er pressure against the tires. The rear tires are often crowded forciblyagainst the side cf a furrow and when the tractor is turned sharply as at the end of a furrow the tractor is substantially pivoted 011 one of the rear tires which tends to twist one side of the pivoting tire from its contact with the tire rim side flange. Also when the tractor is being turned as just described, the front wheels are turned at substantially a right angle to the center line of the tractor which results in the sides of these front tires being pressed sidewise forcibly against the soil.

As soil adapted for cultivation by plowing is soft and frequently includes straw corn stalks, cover-crops and the like, tractor tires sink into such soil to such an extent asto expose the tire beads to the soil. When the soil is very soft, it is not unusual for farmers to violate the recornmended inflation pressure by reducing low inflation pressure still further to obtain greater flotation which practice'exaggerates the ease with which the sides of a tire, adjacent the tire rini flange, may be forced away from such flange. Whether or not the said inflationary pressure is reduced below the recommended standards, the side pressure exerted 011 the tires, as described above, fl eqnently pushed the beads o f the tires away froin thefimflanges -asuflicient distaiicb to permit soil and the jfibrousgmaterialijandpslnalljsticks therein to enter and lodge between the tire beads and the rim flanges. Heretofore, it has been the common practice to use inner tubes in tractor tires and this lodg ment of foreign material, as described above, while not desirable, was not fatal to the service of the tire since the inflationary air of the tire was retain'ed i1'1the inner tube.

The present invention provides a tubcless tire for agricultural farm tires and applicant was confronted with the fast that foreign material' lodged between a tire bead and the tire rim side flange destroyed theair seal which was neccssary between said beads and flanges. As indicatcd above, such air seal was elfected by the rubber on the tire beads being pressed into contact with Unit::d States Patent 4 2 tire rim flanges by the inflationary pressure within vthe tire. The present invention provides means whereby sticks, fibrous and coarse types of said foreign material is pr'evented from entering the space between the said tire beadls and flanges when the tire sidewalls adjacent the tire beads are forced away from said flanges and further provides means for receiving a limited amount of silt and similar types ofsoil which may gradually enter b'e'tween the tire beads and said flanges wherehy the said rubber contact with said flanges is not pre vented by such limited amountsof silt and soil.

These and 0ther objects of the invntion Will be apparent from.the followirig description reference being had tothe drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tire embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2' is a fragmentary perspective View of the tire of Eig. 1 shown partly in section and mounted on a tire rirn, the tire inflatcd and the tire beads in fluid tight contact with the side flanges of said rim;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view -0 Fig. 2 taken at the tire bead and adjacent rim ortion and illustrating the relative osition of the tire bead and rim tire bead flange When the tire is running in service with the tire bead in normal contact wi th the tire Ihn; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 except it illustrates the relative position of the tire bead and ritn tire bead fiange When the side of the tire has been forced a distance away from said rim flange.

Referring to. the drawings in detail and particularly to Fig. 2, lt will be seen that tire 10 cotnprises a body eral outer surface ofbeads 12 and 13 are forn1ed With It is to be noted that th'ese rerecesses 30, 31 and 32. ccsses are'of substantial depth and preferably they form concentric endless grooves about the rim flange contact surface of said tire b eads It is to be understobdfihat while the recesses in the form of endless concentrio grooves preferably extend circumferentially entirel3 around the bead portions of the tire, the invention is not to be limite d to specific shapes of the recesses since they may be of any form found satisfactory to receive and retain silt 01' the like that may enter between the tire beads and the tire rim side flange.

In order to make tire 10 imperviousto the inflationary ai1 that comes intodirect contact witl1 its inside surface,

it is provided with a lining 5 which may be composecl of a butyl type rubbex". Rim 20 is provided with a tire immer 'tube valve andystem, not shown, which.stem is in fluid tight relation with said rim and provides means for inflating tire 10 in themanner .well known in the tubeless tire art. An airtight seal between the tire 10 and rim 20 is effectecl by the pressute of the internal air of the tire forcing the lateral Outer, surface of the tire beads 12 and 13 againsfthe rim flanges 18 and 19 respectively;

The initial inflation of said tire 011 said rirn may beconveniently done by first placing the tire over the drop center rim 20 in the us ual way, and then in order to.

forcethe beadsapart onto the bead seats provlded 011 the rim, a band is placed around the centerof the tread 01 the tire and contracted to shorten the circumference of the tread of the tire and thus force' the beads apart: into contact with said bead seat's. Whenthe beadsimak'e contact with the rim at said bead seats, air is introduced into the tire and by building up a suflicient pressure the 3 beads are firmly seated in operative position shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

Referring now to Fig. 3, it Will be seen that tire 10 is molded at its bead portion to substantially conform to the contour of the rim flang es 18 and 19 which it contacts in Service. It is animportantfeature of the preSent invention that the sidewall 14 adjacent the rim flanges 18 and 19 is mach thicker than is the case in conventional tires and that the sidewall extends beyond the radial outer and lateral marginal edge cf said side flangesapproximately 2" so as to cmpletely Cover and extend beyond said flanges. The inside diameter of that portion of thickened sidewall between points ab is approximately less than the outside diameter of the rim flange this portiou of the thiCkened sidewall Contacts in Service This results in a tight fit between the thickened sidewall portion and the rim flange as indicated in Fig. 3 where the edge 3 of the sidewall is shown as hving a smaller diameter thanthe diameter cf the edge of the rim flange adjacent thereto. It will be Seen by reference to Fig. 4 wherein the tire, bead is shown spaced lat'erally inwardly from-the tire flange, as occurs in Service when the tire 10 is subjected to a severe side thrust as explained hereinbefore, that the sidewall edge portion 3 ren1aixis in comtact With said flange thereby preventing the entrance between the tire beads and the tire rim of small sticks of fibrous material o1 the like and also substantially preventing such entrance of silt or, fine soil. It will also be seen that a gradual accurnulation of silt or fine soil between the tire beads and the rim side flanges will enter recesses 30, 31 and 32 and will permit the rubber covering the lateral side of said beads to contact the metal of said flanges whereby the. air seal between the tire and the rim is rnaintained untili such accurnulationof silt and fine soil becomes greater than the capacity of said recesses.

Ribs of rubber forrned on the tire rim flange contactside of tubeless tire beads have been known as air-sealing means as may be seen by reference to R. W. Brown, United States Patent Number 2,221470 Such said ribs as have been used heretofore as air-sealing means for tubelesstires are not operative for the purpose of applicants ribs 21, 21a, 21b and 21c. Applicant found that the. thickrubber coating on the said rim flange contactside of tire beads 12 and 13 was satisfactory air-sealing means at its. rim flange contact. Applicant also found that the thickened sidewall portions 16 and 17 as describegi hereinabove were elfective in preventing the entranceof sticks, fibersand coarse material between the tire beads. and the rim flanges, but that in certain types of soil there was a gradual seepage of fine silt or dust between the tire beads andthe rim flang'es. The lodgment of such fine particles between the rubber and the flange prevented contact of the rubber with the flange and permitted a slow leak of inflationary air from the tire. The present invention provides recesses in the tire beads of such depth and width as to receive and retain the fine material that seeps between the tire beads and flange over a lang period of tire service. T great a depth of said recesses results ina soft rubber cushion between the rim flange and the tire beads which permits excessive actionof the tire bead which action causes premature tire failurtes as will beunderstoodby those familiar with the art. Applicant has discovered that for an 11.00-28 tire recess depths' cf .047 are the greatest depthsthat can he used without such excessive actionand that to provide the desired capacity of said recesses, substantially the relative width and spacing of the recesses shown in the drawings are necessary. Recesses 30 and 3Idefined by ribs 21, 21a and 21b, 210 respectively are approximately as deep as they are wide and recess 32 defined by ribs 21a, 21b is approximately twice as wideas it.is deep; This arrangementof and depth and width of said-recesses just described has-been found tobe the most effective in trapping and retaining silt, dust and the li-ke which may enter between the said beads and flanges while at the sarne time permitting continuous comtact of the rubber composing said ribs With said flanges, while avoiding harmful action between the beads and the flanges.

The detailed description of the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated and described herein is not to be construed as limiting the invention thereto. The invention includes all features of patentable novelty residing in the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings.

What is clairned is:

l. In connbinzi'tion, a p'neumatic agricultural tr'adtor tire suitable for use without an inner tube and a tire rim having side flanges 0f standard contour, said tire comprising a body portion, tire bead portions and sidewalls, said sidewalls being composed of elastic rubber and. havlng thickerled p'cirtions molded to radially inne? contours that approximately cdrifemi to the radially outer Contours of said i'-ir"n flanges and being in Operative contact therewith When in use, the radially inner diamet'er of said thickened sidewall portions being apprcxirnately 3:12" lest; than the radially ou'ter diameter of the portions cf the said flanges whi'ch said portions of the sidewall contact in service; the lateral oute'r edges of s'aid thickened prtions in their molcled shape extending laterally' outwardly approximately bey'ond the lateral outer edg'es of said fianges, whereby an air seal is rr1ade betweeh said flanges and thickened sidewall portions and coar'se foreign material is prevented frorn entering betwcen said flanges and the tire beads, the lateral unter faces of said tire beads radially inward from said sidewalls having later'ally outwardl'y opening fine soil receiving recesses formed therein, said recesses being defined by spaced concentri'c ribs molded- 011 the. tire beads and having a depth and width not greater than .047 and .094 respectively.

2. In. comoination, a pneumatic agriculturaltractor tire 013 the character described and a tire rim haVing sid'e fianges of standard contour, said tire comprising a reiflforced. body portion, tread, inextensible' beads and sidewalls; said sidewalls including a protect ive layer of elzistic rubber hving thickened portions adaptedto overlie aridcontact said flanges and being molded' to provide r'adially immer contour surfaces that approximately conform to the radially outcr 'cont'our cf said flanges, said cc'mtour surfaces having a radially inner diameter substzintially less than the ra'dially outer diameter of the portionof the ilange: which the thickened portion contacts; the later'al outen. edges of said thickened portionsextending later'ally cutwardly beyond and having a molded diameter substantiall'y less than the radially outer edges of said flangks said lat'erally extended edges of the thickened portions being trned; radially inwardly about the outer edges of the flanges by' the inherent stresses in the thickened rubberpo-rtionsde to the radially outer.diarneters ofsaicl flange's that con'tactsaidthickened rubber portions being greater than the radially inner diameter cf said rubber portions they contact.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

